Which pretender design is best...?

[rabelais]

Originally posted by Zen:
All your mages can cast quickness already. (They all start with 1 Water).

True. The bless effect isn't cumulative with the spell?

Rabe the Slowed-way-down....

I believe it is, but it won't let you cast 3 spells a round (which would fatigue them *even faster*). And since when do your mages need +4 Defense?

[rabelais]

I'd appreciate it if all you fine folks voting "other", would post some specifics on your unique choice.


Thanks,

Rabe the Sadly Unenlightened

[atul]

Originally posted by rabelais:
The bless effect isn't cumulative with the spell?

Actually, I don't think it is. My first to start MP (but, it seems, not necessarily first to end) is/was with TC S&A and I was really considering the water9 blessing. But when testing it, I couldn't see it stacking with the spell no matter how hard I tried/hoped. Of course, my testing was not extensive, so I might have erred. Anyway, was considering it mostly for demon summons (just imagine all those wheels of fire), but deemed it not worth of the points.

I'm no vet, but I must echo Zen in the prod-growth dispute. Of course it feels good to know that your people are healthy and breed like rabbits, but to my limited experience, it just doesn't cut it. When suffered the prod-zeroing-2nd-turn bug, it really hurt. With growth you just can't build anything.

National summons are great, but apart from the dispossessed spirits (gotta love 'em, low-def/mr nations using elite troops beware) you can't mass-summon them. Hum, just a thought, I'm finding it hard to find a good commander for my troops, since nowadays keep having them in all sorts (mundane/magic/undead). Anyone found a good solution, or am I forced to keep a different commander for every flavor?

(Oh yeah, Last of the two euro-cents. With turmoil, strong dominion. Very strong. You are anyway surrounded by all those boring people who take order/misfortune, and their bad-luck dominion in your lands _hurts_. Fortunately those barbarian hordes and random villains attack usually in foreign dominion provinces, which are occupied by your guarding armies or enemy's advancing ones. Not sure how the mechanics work, but that's my experience anyway)

Originally posted by atul:
Hum, just a thought, I'm finding it hard to find a good commander for my troops, since nowadays keep having them in all sorts (mundane/magic/undead). Anyone found a good solution, or am I forced to keep a different commander for every flavor?

You just use a different commander. Though you can put them all under a CM if he has the right picks and some magic items.

S&A I'd consider making a Whip of Command/Scepter of Authority for a noble (or indy commander) at least once. For Dispossesed spirits, you have easy access to Revive King and for magicals, a CM works just fine.

S&A is actually fun in that aspect, since there is no one single unit, outside of the immortals, that can hold your masses of almost totally useless troops

[atul]

Originally posted by Zen:
You just use a different commander. Though you can put them all under a CM if he has the right picks and some magic items.

Aye, CM is the only one I've come up with before, was fishing for someone else because it feels such a waste to use the most expensive mage just to haul troops around. Well, at least with right picks you can use him to cast frost bolt, fire flies, raise skeleton, resist magic, charge body, geyser, acid spells and many others, with just one unit in a single battle. Wipee... Versatility is good, but hey, some restraint.

Originally posted by Zen:
S&A is actually fun in that aspect, since there is no one single unit, outside of the immortals, that can hold your masses of almost totally useless troops

HEY, they're not useless, just... doing their best to give their pretender a good challenge. As even mr Cruise learns in the Last Samurai, there is no honour in a battle you beforehand know you're going to win. Teaches you proper attitude, does indeed.

Besides, the one immortal who actually can haul a sizeable contignent of those troops manages to disease half of your army if something goes awry with the battle orders...

Gotta love S&A, but don't know how much it helps when pitted against other nations.

[Nagot Gick Fel]

I prefer the Nataraja with 3 earth only.

If I didn't care about Bless Effects I'd probably say the same. As you can Summon Earthpower up to cast whatever you'd like, or Earth Boots to cast what ritual you'd like.

What I do know however, is that CM's and most S&A mages fatigue quickly even under a Magic 1 enviroment.

Though I tend to script my casters with Quickness, Eagle Eye, Acid Rain and other such spells.

Without easy communion Access you will run into situations where your mages will only get a few casts, and intrinsic reinvigoration can help.

If you have the points and the thought of a Natty appeals to you, I'd definitely go Earth at least 3. If you have some extra, putting an additional Earth on him isn't going to hurt and it will allow your mages to recover from sleeping faster to cast another spell.

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Zen:
If you have some extra, putting an additional Earth on him isn't going to hurt

It costs 32 points more and therefore hurts my dominion. No extra points for me.